For human beings, ambulation—also known as walking, is perhaps the most fundamental form of locomotion. Walking is also considered to have significant health benefits and so whether young or old there is a general view among the medical community that walking for thirty to sixty minutes a day with correct posture reduces a variety of health risks which may include heart disease, anxiety, depression, obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cancer and many other ailments.
Human walking may be generally described as the motion of an inverted pendulum, in which the upper body is vaulted over the stiff lower limb, i.e., leg, that has been placed in contact with the ground. As this vault is performed the next leg is brought into contact with the ground, a weight transfer is performed and again the upper body is vaulted forward.
It is also quite common for the arms to be employed in the process of walking, as they can assist in balancing the body as weight is shifted from one leg to the next. In most instances the motion of the arms is to counter balance—which is to say that as a person's left leg moves forward so, too, does his right arm. Then, as the right leg moves forward past the supporting left leg, the left arm also moves forward. In some situations, rather than the counter balancing (asynchronous) motion, a person may opt to use his or her arms in a synchronous motion—moving the left arm and left leg together and then the right arm and right leg together.
At some points in the lives of some people, such as in the case of injury, illness, age or other event, the ability to walk may become difficult if not otherwise impossible. For some, the only option for mobility may be a wheelchair whether self-propelled or driven by the person's hands and arms.
But when and where possible, the benefits of walking as well as the drive of a person's self esteem and desire for independence typically lead the person and his or her family, friends and doctors to encourage walking with the use of a physical aid. For some, a cane or staff may be sufficient, but in many cases a walking aid that is truly capable of safely supporting the person's weight is necessary.
Crutches are also well known and in general are used to permit a user to elevate one foot during movement from one site to another, but are generally not considered a tool for typical walking because of the continued elevation of a foot during use.
In some cases, during rehabilitation a set of parallel bars are used to permit a person to support him or herself by the arms as he or she moves his or her feet forward along the length of the parallel bars. Arm motion, whether synchronous or asynchronous with foot motion is not inhibited, and for the limited length of the parallel bars the person enjoys an opportunity for assisted walking that is fairly natural.
Of course, parallel bars are large, long, heavy and stationary. Beneficial though they may be in terms of therapy and retraining walking ability, they are not functional as a part of daily life.
Devices known as “walkers” are therefore typically employed for use in day-to-day adventures of getting around in a sort of walking fashion. In general, walkers are comprised of a framed structure providing a left and right side that are spaced apart and rigidly joined. Many walkers may be described as being generally U-shaped when viewed from above, as the left side, right side and front section define a three-sided space for supporting a user within its boundaries. The sides and front are typically braced in some manner, such that the device can be free standing, and more importantly, so that when in use the sides will not collapse inwardly or outwardly—an event that would most likely destabilize the user and possibly lead to a fall and perhaps even injury.
The use of a walker is typically employed in one of two ways—the first is for the user to pick up the walker and move it some distance ahead of himself or herself, and then while holding it with his or her hands, to walk, ambulate or shuffle forward. Then, the walker is again picked up and moved, rolled or scooted forward for the process to repeat. The second general option is for the user to scoot the walker over the ground with himself or herself as he or she walk or shuffle forward. And, of course, combinations of picking up, scooting, shoving and or sliding the walker may be performed at different times and in different ways.
Moreover, the walker device is in general a movable platform that provides ridged support to the user as he or she moves forward and/or leans left or right. One example is Walker U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,484 to Pastor, which has two essentially horizontal frame members 12 with legs 14, 16 and upper and lower support rods 22, 24 disposed between the legs 14 at the front of the walker 10. Pastor also provides a backrest 26 and a seat 48, but moreover the upper and lower support rods rigidly brace the left and right sides.
Another is Walker Carrier U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,911 to Endress et al., which again has opposing leg members 12 and 14 separated to form a space in which the user may position his or her body when standing. The front of the walker is closed with brace members 15 and 30 extending between the respective leg members to which they are secured for structurally stabilizing the walker.
Further examples can be found with the Mobility Assist Devices of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,465,744 and 5,305,773 to Browning as well as the Sliding Tray Assembly walker device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,810 to Chapin—each providing a rigid frame to define an area in which the user should stand.
However, it has also been realized that a walker when not in use can be difficult to store and/or transport. Accordingly, some walking aid devices have been developed that permit firm support for active use, but which also can be folded for transportation and storage. One such device is the Folding Walking Aid of U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,916 to Womble, and another is the Collapsible Power Gait Walker of U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,354 to Alexander.
In Womble, two identical frames 1 and 2 are pivotally related by generally parallel sleeves 13 and 14 interconnected in a spaced relation by tubular transverse arched struts 15 and 16. A pair of releasable locks are provided, such that the frames may be releasably held in either an extended position as shown in FIG. 1 for use in walking, or a folded position as indicated by the dotted lines of FIG. 4 wherein the frames are folded inwardly to lie against the arched struts 15 and 16.
With respect to Womble, when the releasable locks are not engaged each frame 1 and 2 may rotate freely—outwardly or inwardly and with no coordinated relation to one another, such that reliable support is not ensured.
In Alexander, the walker 11 is constructed from a left side frame 13, a right side frame 15 and a rear crossbar 17 that is pivotally connected to and between the left side frame 14 and the right side frame 16. Hinge tubes 91 are taught to achieve the pivotal connections and each has a pair of buttonholes 93 and 95 set to receive a spring-loaded button when each respective frame is at a predetermined angle—e.g., folded for storage or out for use. Alexander does note that by adjusting the height of the crossbar, the user may avoid the locking buttons entering the button-holes to allow both side frames to freely pivot. Moreover, each frame side may rotate freely—outwardly or inwardly and with no coordinated relationship to one another, such that reliable support is not ensured.
Moreover, the traditional walkers such as those presented by Pastor, Endress, Browning and Chapin are traditional frame structures which do not accommodate the natural articulating motion of arms and legs. As such, any assistance in the prospect of walking is actually provided in a form that is contrary to the natural style desired by the biomechanics of the body in motion. Womble and Alexander provide alternative walker arrangements principally directed toward ease of storage or transport, but in so doing they can permit independent movement of the walker's frame components.
However, both Womble and Alexander fail to provide any interrelationship between the movements of the left and right sides and this failing is extreme. Moreover, with respect to the walker devices as taught by Womble and Alexander, when the left and right side frames are released for rotation there is no safeguard, no assurance that one or both sides will not be over-rotated such that the walker may become unstable and collapse to detriment of the using person. Indeed, when the sides are unlocked the structural stability of the walker—a key point noted by Endress—is all but uncertain. There is also no assistance provided to the user to experience assisted articulation.
Hence there is a need for a system and method for an articulating walker that is capable of overcoming one or more of the above identified challenges.